Pratt Assembles First Engine for MRJ

Pratt & Whitney completed assembly of the first PurePower PW1217G engine to test for the Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ), the company announced today. The engine, rated at 17,000 pounds of thrust, is the third PurePower PW1000G series engine to complete assembly. It will go to Pratt & Whitney’s West Palm Beach, Fla., facility to initiate testing. Pratt & Whitney held the so-called MRJ “last-bolt ceremony” at its Middletown Engine Center in Connecticut.

“The PurePower engine is an integral part of the new Mitsubishi Regional Jet,” Yukihiko Nakata, Mitsubishi Aircraft senior deputy project manager, told Pratt & Whitney employees at the ceremony today. “We continue to work closely with Pratt & Whitney to integrate the engine with the airframe, and we look forward to getting the initial test results from this first engine to test.”

Pratt & Whitney plans to run a total of eight test engines over the next 24 months. Developers expect it to enter service in 2014.

“Completion of this first engine to test for the PW1200G series is another important milestone for the PurePower engine program,” said Bob Saia, P&W’s vice president for the next-generation product family. “Ground testing of our first PurePower engine exceeded our expectations, and I predict that testing for this first PW1217G engine will produce similar results.”

Pratt & Whitney recently finished initial ground testing of its first PW1000G after nearly 200 hours of testing. PurePower engine core testing concluded last year with more than 260 accumulated test hours. In addition to the core testing, Pratt & Whitney has performed critical module-level testing for the PurePower engine program, including fan-drive-gear system testing with simulations of more than 60,000 takeoffs and landings, and hundreds of hours of testing on the low- and high-pressure compressor. Testing has proved that the designs meet or exceed efficiency and operability goals, according to the company.